No: 09 Spook's I am Grimalkin

Book No: 09 of 13

SPooK’SI am GriMaLkiN

My Weapons

Many of you have asked about the weapons I deploy. I can't tell you everything otherwise to protect those secrets from falling into the hands of my enemies, I would have to hunt you down and kill you slowly in a way you would find very unpleasant. It would hurt a lot. So I will tell you just a little of what I have at my disposal.

My blades, which I craft myself and wear in leather sheathes on my body, are used to cut and slay my enemies. The majority are finely-balanced throwing-blades; but some are used for fighting at close quarters. I am a weapons blacksmith second only to Old God, Hephaestus, in skill.

Additionally, I sometimes use my teeth. I have filed them to sharp points and if necessary I can rip out the throat of an enemy or bite clean through the bones of the extremities. Fighting at very close quarters, my opponents routinely lose both fingers and toes. I'll take thumb-bones with my teeth if I get the chance because my most powerful weapon is the necklace of thumb-bones that I wear around my neck.

I usually use my scissors to snip them from the bodies of slain enemies. Then I boil them up in a cauldron using the correct spells and rituals. If performed correctly the white bones are quickly stripped of flesh and float to the top of the bubbling water. I pick them out quickly ignoring the heat – what are a few blisters and burns to a witch-assassin? Next I drill holes in each bone and fix them to my chain. Now they are ready for use!

In combat I am easily capable of defeating half a dozen opponents simultaneously but if the odds are far greater I use the necklace of bones. As I finger a bone I draw the power trapped there into my body. Each bone, depending on the abilities of the witch I cut it from, has different latent powers. They do not last long; once their strength is exhausted they have to be replaced but my trade as assassin provides me with an ample supply. The Pendle Clans mostly use blood, bone or familiar magic and tend to specialise in one of those methods. During my life as a witch, I have used all three finally settling upon bone-magic which is the one most suited to my role. But I have travelled extensively and studied the magical methods of other cultures. For example, I know something of both shamanistic and sympathetic magic and have skills derived from each of those disciplines. A witch-assassin should always be willing to learn. It is good to acquire a wide repertoire of ways of dealing out death.